KNOW THE RULES
NCAA, Pac-12 Conference and University rules governing student-athletes are
extensive and complex. Listed below are some topics you need to understand.
Always ask your coach or the Office of Compliance Services Staff if you have a
question or problem before you act. The Office of Compliance Services exists
to educate everyone about the rules and help you prevent errors that could
jeopardize your eligibility, financial aid and your personal and/or team’s
success. You will be held accountable for knowing the rules…ignorance is not
an acceptable excuse.
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EXTRA BENEFITS
Neither you, your family, nor your friends may accept gifts, money,
transportation, meals, loans or special benefits from anyone (coaches,
staff, faculty, fans, mentors, scholarship donors or boosters) due to your
status as an athlete.
You will hear the term “extra benefits” used with regard to this rule. The
NCAA rules define an extra benefit as any special arrangement by an
institutional employee or representative of athletics interests (booster,
former player, mentor, scholarship donor etc.) to provide a student-athlete
or his/her relatives or friends with something that is not provided in
general to the student body or allowed per NCAA rules. The point is,
nothing can be provided to you for free or at a reduced rate, or arranged
for you because you are an athlete. For example, extra benefits include,
but are not limited to:
1.
A special discount, payment arrangement, or credit on purchase
(e.g., airline ticket, clothing) or services (e.g., laundry, dry cleaning,
auto repair, attorney fees).
2.
A loan of money or guarantee of bond at a special rate.
3.
Use of an automobile that belongs to a coach, CU staff member,
booster, etc.
4.
Receipt of free or discounted meals or services at a commercial
establishment as provided by the business owners, CU coaches,
staff, boosters, etc.
5.
Benefits connected with off-campus housing (e.g., use of TVs,
stereos, room furnishings, etc.)
6.
Signing or co-signing of a note by a coach, staff member, booster,
etc. to help you arrange a loan.
7.
Use of personal property of a department employee or booster (e.g.,
car, stereo, home, cell phone, etc.).
It is permissible to have an occasional meal at the home (not a restaurant)
of an athletics representative (booster) or employee of the athletics
department, so long as the meal is not excessive (well beyond what you
would have on campus) and within 30 miles of campus. It is permissible
for the booster or staff member to give you a ride from campus or your
home and back for such a meal. A staff member (but not your mentor or
scholarship donor or a CU fan) can also occasionally take you out to a
restaurant. Occasional meals can also be provided to you on campus in a
regular dining facility.
FINANCIAL AID
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You will be ruled ineligible if you receive financial aid in excess of a full
grant-in-aid (tuition, fees, room, board, books, other expenses related to
attendance). Many types of aid are included in this limit, such as,
government grants, institutional and outside scholarships and grants,
gifts, loans, athletics participation compensation, and professional sports
stipends. Any amount received that exceeds a full grant-in-aid will be
refunded or withheld from your financial aid.
The cost of training table meals must be withheld from a student’s board
money, unless the athlete is on a dorm 19-meal plan and not eating that
particular meal in the dorm. A non-scholarship athlete or athlete on aid
which does not cover board, must pay for the training table meal in
advance.
Some athletes may qualify for the Student Assistance Fund. Contact Jill
Keegan for more information.
EMPLOYMENT
If you intend to work at any time, including your summer break, you
are required by NCAA rules to sign a statement about your
employment. NCAA rules require CU to monitor student-athlete
employment, so please complete an Employment Form before
beginning your work. Failure to abide by these rules may make you
ineligible.
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You may only be compensated for work actually performed and at a
rate commensurate with the local going rate for similar services.
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Camp/Clinic employment: Several specific rules apply to your
potential employment at camps, clinics or any job where your
athletic skill or reputation is involved. For example, you cannot
conduct your own camp. You can provide lessons for a fee, if you
get prior approval from in the Office of Compliance Services. Some
sports have additional restrictions regarding fee-for-lessons. See
Jo Marchi for more details or call her at 303-492-3813.
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SPORTSMANSHIP
CU is committed to excellence in academic and athletic achievement earned
with integrity and sportsmanship. The Pac-12 Conference can penalize staff or
students for inappropriate behavior, including derogatory comments about
opponents, staff, fans or officials and can impose suspension penalties
GAME TICKETS
 You can receive up to four complimentary admissions for home and away
games in your sport. This is done by pass list only. You may not sell a place
on your pass list or exchange it for something. You are allowed up to six
pass list spots for NCAA Championships or Bowl Games that you are a
participant.
 No CU staff member or booster can provide professional sports tickets to you.
The only exception allows the team to attend a pro contest as entertainment.
 You and your family cannot buy any tickets from a staff member or
booster/donor/mentor, even at full value.
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RECRUITING
Practice may not be conducted at any time (including during
vacation periods) following competition, except between contest
rounds or events during multi-day or multi-event competition (e.g.,
multi-match day in Tennis/Volleyball, rounds of golf in a multi-day
tournament).
No CARA activities may be held from midnight to 5AM.
Preseason Practice. Daily and weekly hour limitations do not apply
to countable athletically related activities occurring during
preseason practice prior to the first day of classes or the first
scheduled contest, whichever is earlier.
ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
Vacation Periods and Between Terms. Daily and weekly hour
limitations do not apply to countable athletically related activities
occurring during an institution's official vacation period.
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Weekly Hour Limitations - Outside of Playing Season. Participation in
limited activities is permitted up to a maximum eight hours per week, of
which not more than two hours per week may be spent on individual skill
workouts (or film review in Football) and you must have two days off. You
may not participate in any “countable” athletically related activities outside
the playing season during any institutional vacation period (e.g., summer)
(MBB/WBB/FB Exception for Summer Access).
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Each CU sport program is required to keep a log of practice hours. A team
member must sign the form each month.
ELIGIBILITY
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Each year you must sign the NCAA “Student-Athlete Statement” and
“Drug-Testing Consent Form” before you practice or compete.
You must be enrolled in 12 credit hours at all times to practice and
compete. Always add classes before you drop classes to avoid going
below 12 credits at any time. The only exception is to be in your last
semester and enrolled in the credits you need to graduate.
Weekly Hour Limitations – During the Playing Season. A student-athlete's
participation in countable athletically related activities (CARA) shall be
limited to a maximum of four hours per day and 20 hours per week during
the season. You must have one day per week off from all CARA activities.
This day could also be a travel day.
Competition Day. All competition and any associated athletically
related activities on the day of competition shall count as three
hours regardless of the actual duration of these activities.
Failure to meet any of the requirements listed below may make you temporarily
or permanently ineligible to compete for CU:
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PLAYING AND PRACTICE SEASON RULES
Golf Practice Round Exception. A practice round of golf may exceed
the four-hours-per-day limitation, but the weekly limit of 20 hours
shall remain in effect. A practice round played on the day prior to
the start of a collegiate golf tournament at the tournament site shall
count as three hours, regardless of the actual duration of the round.
It is important that you know and abide by the NCAA’s recruiting rules as
well as CU’s on-campus recruiting policy whenever prospective studentathletes visit campus, or if you happen to run into them off-campus. If you
violate NCAA rules during recruiting, your eligibility will be in jeopardy.
You can call or write to CU’s recruits at your own expense or initiative, but
not that of your coaches.
Publically using social media to recruit a prospect is prohibited unless
they have signed an NLI.
If you host a visiting prospect, you can be given up to $40 per day by your
coaches to entertain that recruit. You cannot buy souvenirs for recruits
with that money and you can never give them cash!! You and your
prospect may not use your own money to exceed the $40 per day limit.
You cannot take CU recruits more than 30 miles from campus.
Do not place a bet on a collegiate or professional sports contest, nor
provide information concerning a college competition to someone
involved in organized gambling activities.
Do not lie or refuse to give information relevant to an investigation of a
possible rule violation to CU, Pac-12, or NCAA officials.
Cheating on exams or copying other people’s work can result in expulsion
from the University of Colorado.
You must pass at least six hours with a minimum grade of “C-” or better
every semester. Football SAs must pass 9 credits hours each fall term.
You must meet Progress Toward Degree Requirements…see the Herbst
Academic Center Support staff for more information on your major.
You must pass at least 24 credit hours every year. No more than 6 of
those hours can be earned during the summer term.
You must maintain a grade point average that keeps you in good academic
standing with the University. If you fall below a 2.0 cumulative GPA, the
University will put you on probation for a semester, after which if you fail
to bring it up to a 2.0 GPA, you may be dismissed from CU for academic
reasons. The NCAA also has rules about declaring/changing your degree,
making progress toward your degree, and the GPA you must maintain
along the way.
Get approval from your coach before competing for any team or at an
event outside of your activities as a CU student-athlete.
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PROMOTIONAL AND CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
The NCAA restricts the promotional activities of student-athletes. You
cannot endorse, directly or indirectly, any commercial product or service.
Any use of your name, picture or appearance to support CU, a charitable,
educational or non-profit activity requires prior written approval from the
Athletic Director.
You cannot miss class for such an activity.
You may accept legitimate and normal expenses from CU, the Pac-12 or
the charitable, educational or non-profit agency related to participation in
such activity.
An authorized representative of the charitable, educational or non-profit
agency must sign a release statement ensuring that your name, image or
appearance is used in a manner consistent with NCAA rules.
You may not permit use of your name or picture in a “name the player”
contest conducted by a commercial business for the purpose of promoting
the business.
If you are involved in an institutional promotion on a television or radio
network, you are precluded from making a reference to the local station or
network as part of the promotion (e.g., "Watch the Buffs on ESPN").
NCAA rules say that the apparel you wear during competition, as well as in
pre- and post-game activities, including press conferences, may have only
one manufacturer’s logo or trademark per article of clothing and that
logo/trademark must not exceed 2.25 square inches in size.
AMATEURISM
Do not sign a contract, accept any benefit from, or even orally agree to be
represented now or in the future by someone acting as an agent or
financial advisor. “Payment” can be anything – money, preferential
treatment, services, etc. An Agent is anyone trying to market or earn a
financial gain from a SA’s athletic ability. Reach out to the Professional
Sports Counseling Panel if you would like more assistance as you
approach the conclusion of your eligibility.
You may not tryout with a professional sports team during the school year.
You may not receive preferential treatment because of your reputation,
skill or payback potential as a professional athlete.
MEDICAL EXPENSES
These are medical expense benefits incidental to a student's participation in
intercollegiate athletics that may be financed by the institution:
 Athletics medical insurance;
 Death and dismemberment insurance for travel connected with intercollegiate
athletics competition and practice;
 Drug-rehabilitation expenses;
 Counseling expenses related to the treatment of eating disorders;
 Special individual expenses resulting from a permanent disability that
precludes further athletics participation;
 Glasses, contact lenses or protective eye wear (e.g., goggles) for studentathletes who require visual correction in order to participate in intercollegiate
athletics;
 Medical examinations at any time for enrolled student-athletes;
 Expenses for medical treatment (including transportation and other related
costs) incurred by a student-athlete as a result of an athletically related injury.
Such expenses may include the cost of traveling to the location of medical
treatment or the provision of actual and necessary living expenses for the
student-athlete to be treated at a site on or off the campus during the summer
months while the student-athlete is not actually attending classes. Medical
documentation shall be available to support the necessity of the treatment at
the location in question;
 Surgical expenses to a student-athlete (including a partial qualifier or a
nonqualifier) who is injured during the academic year while participating in
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voluntary physical activities that will prepare the student-athlete for
competition;
Medication and physical therapy utilized by a student-athlete during the
academic year to enable the individual to participate in intercollegiate
athletics, regardless of whether the injury or illness is the result of
intercollegiate competition or practice;
Medication and physical therapy utilized by a student-athlete (even if the
student-athlete is not a full-time student) during the academic year to enable
the individual to participate in intercollegiate athletics, only if the studentathlete resides on campus (or in the local community of the institution) and
appropriate medical documentation is available to establish that the studentathlete is unable to attend the institution as a full-time student as a result of
the student-athlete’s injury or illness;
Medical expenses (including rehabilitation and physical therapy expenses) for
a student-athlete who sustains an injury while participating in voluntary
conditioning activities during the summer that are conducted by an
institution's strength and conditioning coach with department-wide duties;
and
Preseason dental examinations conducted in conjunction with a regular
preseason physical examination.
CU
Student Athletes
If a medical expense does not fit into one of the categories previously listed, CU
may approve those expenses on a case-by-case basis.
VEHICLE AND HOUSING REGISTRATION
If you own or operate a motor vehicle, you must complete the CU Vehicle
Registration Form. This is a one-time requirement (unless you get a new vehicle)
during your career at CU.
You must also register your housing arrangement – you cannot receive free or
reduced rent housing from a CU athletics representative (e.g., a scholarship
donor or mentor).
NEWS FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES
Peruse the CU website—“Compliance Corner” for occasional updates
http://www.cubuffs.com/compliancecorner
Follow us via social media
Know The Rules
Call or come by the Office of Compliance
Services:
Twitter: @BuffsCompliance
Facebook: Colorado Buffaloes Compliance
Jill Keegan– Director of Compliance
303-492-6155, jill.keegan@colorado.edu
Jo Marchi – Associate Director of Compliance, Monitoring
303-492-3813, marchi@colorado.edu
Kevin Prochaska – Associate Director of Compliance
303-492-7823, kevin.prochaska@colorado.edu
University of Colorado
Champions Center, 4th Floor
UCB 3 7 2
Boulder, CO 80309
Fax: 303-492-3364